Chapter 6 - Rosie Started Asking Who Was Safe
The following week stripped away every comforting illusion Nathan still had about how quickly a parent could fix a bad afternoon.
Rosie was physically okay.
That was the good news.
The bruising faded.
The marks on her arms disappeared.
But bedtime changed.
Bathrooms changed.
Birthday cake changed.
When Nathan brought home two cupcakes from a bakery, Rosie pushed hers away.
“I don’t want birthday.”
Nathan put the cupcakes back into the box.
He did not tell her she was being silly.
He did not tell her Aunt Bethany would never do it again.
He had learned what promises sounded like when adults made them before they had actually built the conditions to keep them.
Instead he said, “Okay. No birthday stuff.”
Rosie thought for a moment.
“Is Grandma safe?”
Nathan didn’t know how to answer without putting adult conclusions into a four-year-old’s head.
So he said, “You don’t have to see Grandma right now.”
That answer seemed enough.
For the first time that day, Rosie relaxed.
Nathan’s own life was moving in the opposite direction.
Walter’s company converted the administrative leave into an indefinite unpaid suspension.
Nathan contacted an employment attorney, who told him the job issue and the family issue needed to be treated separately. Walter could not simply do anything he wanted, but Nathan also should not assume every unfair act created an instant legal remedy.
It was frustrating advice.
It was also realistic.
Nathan began sending résumés.
Then Diane appeared at his house.
She did not knock repeatedly or shout.
She stood on the porch holding Rosie’s favorite stuffed rabbit.
That almost made it worse.
Nathan stepped outside and closed the door behind him.
Diane held out the rabbit.
“She left this.”
Nathan didn’t take it.
“Did you know Bethany had locked her in the bathroom?”
Diane looked tired rather than angry.
“I knew Bethany was trying to calm her down.”
“Locked in a bathroom?”
“She was having a tantrum.”
“She had marks on her arms.”
Diane’s mouth tightened.
“I didn’t see those.”
Nathan believed that part might be true.
Which complicated his anger.
“Why didn’t you open the door?”
Diane looked toward the front window.
“Because every time someone corrects Rosie, you act like they’ve attacked her.”
Nathan almost answered.
Then he remembered Bethany slapping Rosie’s hand two months earlier.
His mother had been there for that too.
“You mean every time Bethany does it.”
Diane said nothing.
That silence mattered more than another denial would have.
Nathan finally took the rabbit.
Diane touched his wrist.
“Nathan, your father is furious. Bethany is talking to a lawyer. Daniel is saying things he cannot take back. Please don’t make decisions while everyone is angry.”
Nathan pulled his hand away.
“What decisions?”
Diane hesitated.
Then she said something that sounded strangely specific.
“At least wait until Monday.”
Nathan watched her walk to her car.
It was Wednesday.
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There was no obvious reason Monday should matter.
And that was exactly why he remembered it.
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